Etisalat announces record energy savings for HCT at GITEX Technology Week

Dubai: Etisalat, one of the leading telecom operators in the Middle East and Africa, yesterday announced record savings on its Emirates Energy Star (EES) programme for its customer, Higher Colleges of Technology. The Higher Colleges of Technology recorded a saving of 2,431 tonnes of CO2 in four months since implementation, resulting in energy savings of 4,120Mwh to September 2013. The announcement came during GITEX Technology Week 2013 in Dubai. GITEX Technology Week is the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region's top ICT exhibition and conference. A leading educational institution in the UAE with a focus on implementing cutting-edge technology, HCT was the first educational institution to implement the EES programme in six of its colleges, including Abu Dhabi Women's College, Al Ain Men's College, Al Ain Women's College, Dubai Men's College, Dubai Women's College and Khalifa City Campus. The Emirates Energy Star programme, launched in partnership with Pacific Controls two years ago, has already registered energy savings of 43.8m Kwh. Many buildings in the UAE, particularly older office facilities, are extremely energy inefficient and contribute heavily to the country's carbon footprint. The Emirates Energy Star programme involves retrofitting such existing buildings with machine-to-machine (M2M) sensors and Managed Energy Monitoring Services to help reduce energy consumption and the overall carbon footprint of the UAE So far, Etisalat has helped save 5,588 trees by helping enterprises eliminate more than 26,025 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 emissions solely through 24/7 monitoring, streamlining and reducing energy usage of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment in the facilities. The EES programme aims to reduce 20% energy consumed and 20% of the carbon footprint of buildings under its purview by 2015. The programme is close to achieving this much before the deadline as it has already registered 17% average energy savings across all its facilities. "Our early investment in machine-to-machine (M2M) technology has helped reap rich dividends for the country and the sector. The Emirates Energy Star programme is one of our initial M2M deployments and its early success is a clear indicator that we are moving in the right direction," said Saleh Al Abdooli, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat. "The successful partnership with HCT will help us work in line with the strategic objectives of harnessing the immense potential of this technology to enable smart government and create a smarter ecosystem," he continued. Dr. Tayeb A. Kamali, Vice Chancellor, Higher Colleges of Technology, said, "Joining hands with an integrated solutions provider like Etisalat will help us take the next step in contributing towards the development of a sustainable future. As the first educational institution to adopt the EES programme, we hope that our decision to adopt the EES program will serve as an inspiration internally and externally - to our students and other institutions - to understand how they can make a difference." Now in its 33rd year, GITEX Technology Week connects more than 138,000 industry professionals and over 3,500 suppliers from 144 countries across five continents, making it one of the world's top three ICT exhibitions. This year's GITEX Technology Week is themed: "Where Technology Means Business". – Emirates New Agency, WAM